Wednesday, November 25, 2015

After being pressed by congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KA), the State Department has confirmed that President Obama didn’t require Iranian leaders to sign the nuclear deal his administration negotiated with Iran. The State Department also acknowledged that the agreement is not “legally binding."

“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document.

“The success of the JCPOA will depend not on whether it is legally binding or signed, but rather on the extensive verification measures we have put in place, as well as Iran’s understanding that we have the capacity to re-impose — and ramp up — our sanctions if Iran does not meet its commitments,” Julia Frifield, the State Department assistant secretary for legislative affairs, wrote in a November 19 letter to Pompeo.

Pompeo released the following statement after receiving the letter from the State Department in response to his request for a final signed version of the Iran nuclear agreement, since the copy of the deal provided to Congress lacked signatures from any of the P5+1 members or Iran. Pompeo sent his request in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry in September, noting that these signatures are crucial representations of each party’s commitment to upholding the terms of the agreement.

Despite the risks associated with negotiating such a dangerous deal with Iran, the State responded that a signed document did not exist, as the nuclear agreement is a “political commitment” — a form of agreement more appropriate for cooperation in illegal logging and clean cookstoves than a nuclear deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terror –depending not on the signatures of the parties, but on Iran’s commitment to upholding the agreement.

“For the State Department to try to defend the unsigned and non-binding Iran nuclear agreement by calling it a ‘political commitment’ is about as absurd as the terms of the deal itself,” said Pompeo, who serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence. “Instead of forging an agreement with Iran that will protect Americans and prevent the world’s largest state sponsor of terror from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the Obama administration caved to Iranian bullies and serial nuclear cheaters. Unsigned, this agreement is nothing more than a press release and just about as enforceable. Further, it fails to address to whom Americans should look to uphold this agreement once the Ayatollah dies, or to whom the Iranians must turn once President Obama passes from the stage. Placing our trust in the ability of these nuclear weapon-driven, radical extremists will not ease tensions, but will only get Americans killed.”

Pompeo continued, “Congress must stand ready, willing, and unified in combating aggression by a regime who continues to view America as the ‘Great Satan’ and has been emboldened by this deal. It is incumbent on this body to remain vigilant and ensure that America’s vital national security interests are not damaged beyond repair by this historic mistake of a deal.”